DOCSLIB.ORG

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Joie

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Joie CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Joie de Vivre; or, A Play with a Dead Man A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Art in English, Creative Writing By Karen Jessa-Lee Reed May 2013 The thesis of Karen Jessa-Lee Reed is approved: _____________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Leilani Hall Date _____________________________________________ _______________ Professor Donna J. Marsh Date _____________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Rick Mitchell, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Dedication This play is for Alex, Jackson, and Abraham. “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit”-E.E. Cummings iii Table of Contents Signature Page ii Dedication Page iii Abstract v Joie de Vivre; or, A Play with a Dead Man 1-86 iv ABSTRACT Joie de Vivre ; or, A Play with a Dead Man By Karen Jessa-Lee Reed Master of Art in English, Creative Writing At its core, Joie de Vivre; or, A Play with a Dead Man is about people coming to terms with their individual connections with both life and death. Joie de Vivre is a Cajun term meaning “the Joy of Living,” and signifies the Cajun obsession with both life and death. This play explores the emotional after-effects of death, revealing that both the living and dead grieve. This play moves briskly through mundane routines revealing the “everyday” as something marvelous. This play follows the crumbling marriage of Fabian and Lily, and also Isaac, a dead man who leaves behind a wife and a mistress. This play mixes the absurdity of a dead man who still acts alive and the crippling emotions of sadness and jealousy. Tinged in fantasy, this play presents normal interactions as something bizarre and mysterious, exploring the possibility of exceptionality and mystery. v Cast of Characters FABIAN: a man in his late thirties LILY: his wife, a woman in her mid-thirties KAY: her mother, a woman in her fifties RORY: a woman in her mid-twenties TRUVY: a woman in her fifties ISAAC: a dead man in his fifties Place West Monroe, Louisiana Time Now Set On stage at all times there should be a small table with a picture of Isaac, framed in angel figurines, or something equally gaud to denote that this picture serves as shrine for a dead man. While only a few characters interact with the picture, the picture should always have a dominant presence on stage. All scenes require chairs, and sometimes a basic table; therefore, all scenes should be able to recycle set pieces without confusing where we are. Often, sounds (or absence of sounds) will be used to signify specific rooms/places. For example, zydeco music will always be played in Kay’s kitchen. Scenes should transition fluid-like. 1 Introduction. Truvy TRUVY enters wearing mourning attire. She will dress in black until otherwise stated. TRUVY When someone dies, there’s an amount of time set aside for mourning. Problem is no one really knows how much time. My boyfriend’s name is-my boyfriend’s name was Isaac. He was a handsome man with a sweet nature and too many teeth. I lived in an apartment, he in a house. With his wife. (Isaac was an asshole, you might think.) He wasn’t consumed with lust or great passions. He was plain, drank coffee, and took out the trash. We got on well. We were in love. About thirty years ago, Isaac went and got himself killed. Just like that. And here I am still stuck in veils and-and black. Black. Black. Black. (It’s very disconcerting, you might think.) Isaac is dead. I don’t know how that makes him feel, but it makes me feel (beat) mad. And a little bit sad. Lights fade to black. 2 1. Lily and Kay Kay’s Kitchen, zydeco music plays. LILY and KAY sit at a table shelling snap beans. ISAAC enters wearing a yellow coat. The women do not notice. He walks around with a sense of familiarity, and a sense of sadness. He removes his yellow coat, hangs it on the back of a nearby chair. He sits and eats an apple. The women do not notice. LILY and KAY still sit shelling snap beans. KAY How's Fabian? LILY Why you askin'? KAY No reason. LILY He's fine. KAY That's nice. LILY Fabian. Do you think he's— KAY Did I tell you? Ran into Mary-Pat at the Piggly Wiggly— 3 LILY I just sometimes think that Fabian might be— KAY And she's invited us to a party! LILY I don't feel like a party. KAY It's just for us ladies. Doesn't that sound nice? LILY Do you think that Fabian's a good man? KAY Mary-Pat is just crazy about you! And it was nice of her to invite you, seein' as you never did send her a thank-you note for those weddin' presents she sent up. LILY Compulsory manners— KAY Are never out of style. LILY Look, I don't want you to think-I'm not even remotely considering that Fabian's— (laughs) He has an appetite for life and I am not about to become one of those insecure wives. KAY Baby girl— (motions to beans) You best start snappin' faster; I've got to have these beans ready for tomorrow. 4 LILY (works faster) Anyway, I've decided he isn't. This is Fabian we're talkin' about. KAY Tomorrow I want you to stop on by and pick up some beans for him. Poor thing is just too skinny. You don't feed him enough. LILY He isn't. I've decided. KAY You know how much Fabian likes my beans. LILY Fabian hates beans. KAY Men like beans. Everybody in the world knows that. Your Daddy loved my beans. ISAAC lets out a small cough. In fact, he loved everything I cooked. Isaac always did say that my cooking was his favorite thing about me. ISAAC is overcome with coughing. ISAAC is quiet again. LILY It depresses me whenever I think about it. KAY Then don't think about it. LILY All this isn't easy to live with. 5 KAY Don't you have nice things to think about? LILY What kind of things did Daddy say about me? He would have been fine with a daughter, right? Or…did he want a son? (long pause) ISAAC throws his apple away and exits. His yellow coat still hangs on the back of the chair. KAY Where'd you learn to snap beans? It's snap. Snap. Snap. (long pause) LILY I think Fabian's a good husband. KAY Good. You listen to me. Being a wife is easy. You feed your man and you have sex with him. That's it. LILY That's it? KAY That's it. LILY Well, is there room for anything else? KAY How come you don't like to cook? LILY I like to cook. I cook my own food. 6 KAY That's not the same. LILY Fabian gets home so late. KAY He eats at work? LILY Yes. Probably with a student. KAY What? LILY A student. KAY Oh— LILY Yes. KAY Well that's— LILY A man of his position probably shouldn't— KAY Well he is good looking— LILY Momma! 7 KAY I'm sorry. LILY I hate being jealous. KAY I'm sure Fabian doesn't want a student. He wants a housewife. LILY He's too peculiar for such normalcy. Lights fade to black. 8 2. Fabian and Truvy FABIAN is sitting at desk grading papers. There are sounds of air compressors and various other sounds heard at an auto-shop. TRUVY enters and sits. FABIAN does not notice. A phone rings and rings. TRUVY You gonna get that? FABIAN continues to grade papers. Phone shuts off. TRUVY Professor? FABIAN continues to grade papers. Phone rings. TRUVY answers. TRUVY Hello. No. I'm his...I'm answering his phone. (covering the receiver) Do you have time to answer a quick survey? FABIAN does not answer. (into phone, altering voice) Yes. I have time. Yes. No. 9 TRUVY (cont.) Most certainly not! Maybe. Fifty-seven. Yes. Yes. No. Okay. Goodbye. TRUVY hangs up. That was fun! (laughs) It's fun assuming an identity. Except that well—(long pause) Professor? FABIAN (noticing Truvy) What? TRUVY How are you, Professor? FABIAN I'm sorry. I don't recognize you. Are you in one of my classes? TRUVY Yes. Advanced Emissions Control. Monday/Wednesday 9:30 a.m. FABIAN Really? TRUVY I sit in the back. FABIAN Would you say that you sit in the back as a means to blend in with a crowd? 10 TRUVY What? FABIAN I don't blend in with a crowd. I tend to wear bright clothing. TRUVY What about at a funeral? FABIAN (beat) Why are you in my office? TRUVY I need to ask you something— FABIAN It's an odd habit to wear black to a funeral, don't you think? TRUVY I think black symbolizes mourning. FABIAN It does. (beat) My father-in-law died. TRUVY I am so very sorry to hear that. FABIAN He died before I knew him. TRUVY Oh— FABIAN Please, have a seat. TRUVY shifts in her seat uncomfortably. 11 TRUVY I have a question, but I can't stay long. FABIAN Oh— TRUVY Last class, the whole time you talked about sentiment— FABIAN Yes? TRUVY Why? FABIAN As a professor—how old are you? TRUVY Excuse me? Phone rings again.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Berkeley Madonna User's Guide
    Berkeley Madonna User’s Guide Version 8.0 March 23, 2000 Robert Macey George Oster Tim Zahnley University of California Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology Berkeley, CA 94720 http://www.berkeleymadonna.com Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................5 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ...............................................................................................5 BERKELEY MADONNA WINDOWS ...............................................................................5 THE EQUATION WINDOW ...............................................................................................5 THE FLOWCHART WINDOW ............................................................................................7 THE PARAMETER WINDOW.............................................................................................8 THE GRAPH WINDOW ....................................................................................................9 Creating Multiple Graph Windows ........................................................................9 Specifying Which Variables to View......................................................................9 Changing Axis Settings.......................................................................................10 Creating Multiple Pages [Windows only].............................................................11 Using Graph Buttons...........................................................................................11
    [Show full text]
  • The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind me. "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson," he said cordially. "I was afraid that you were engaged." "So I am. Very much so." "Then I can wait in the next room." "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small fat-encircled eyes. "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures." "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I observed.
    [Show full text]
  • In Defense of Rap Music: Not Just Beats, Rhymes, Sex, and Violence
    In Defense of Rap Music: Not Just Beats, Rhymes, Sex, and Violence THESIS Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Crystal Joesell Radford, BA Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2011 Thesis Committee: Professor Beverly Gordon, Advisor Professor Adrienne Dixson Copyrighted by Crystal Joesell Radford 2011 Abstract This study critically analyzes rap through an interdisciplinary framework. The study explains rap‟s socio-cultural history and it examines the multi-generational, classed, racialized, and gendered identities in rap. Rap music grew out of hip-hop culture, which has – in part – earned it a garnering of criticism of being too “violent,” “sexist,” and “noisy.” This criticism became especially pronounced with the emergence of the rap subgenre dubbed “gangsta rap” in the 1990s, which is particularly known for its sexist and violent content. Rap music, which captures the spirit of hip-hop culture, evolved in American inner cities in the early 1970s in the South Bronx at the wake of the Civil Rights, Black Nationalist, and Women‟s Liberation movements during a new technological revolution. During the 1970s and 80s, a series of sociopolitical conscious raps were launched, as young people of color found a cathartic means of expression by which to describe the conditions of the inner-city – a space largely constructed by those in power. Rap thrived under poverty, police repression, social policy, class, and gender relations (Baker, 1993; Boyd, 1997; Keyes, 2000, 2002; Perkins, 1996; Potter, 1995; Rose, 1994, 2008; Watkins, 1998).
    [Show full text]
  • Anglo-American Songs and Ballads AFS
    Recording Laboratory AFS L20 Anglo-American Songs and Ballads From the Archive of Folk Song Edited by DUNCAN EMRICH , ­ LIBRARY OF CoNGRESS WASHINGTON 1947 Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number R53-580 rev Avai/Qble from the Library ofCongress Music Division, Recorded Sound Section Washington, D.C. 20540 ANGLO-AMERICAN SONGS AND BALLADS AI-A3-CRIPPLE CREEK, GIT ALONG DOWN TO Her head looked like a coffee pot, TOWN, and KICKING MULE. Sung with five­ Her nose looked like the spout, string banjo by Henry King accompanied by the Her mouth looked like the fire place King family on guitar, mandolin, and bass, at With the ashes all raked out. Chorus. Visalia, Calif., 1941. Recorded by Charles Todd and Robert Sonkin. I wouldn't have a yaller gal, Now here's the reason why, Her neck's so long and scrangy The three songs on this record, played and sung She'd make them biscuits fly. Chorus. by the King family, belong to the broad group of native songs from the southern mountains. They are Boss he had an old gray mare, without any European antecedents and in subject He rode her down in town, matter are purely American. The mandolin and Before he got his trading done, guitar accompaniment, and the very tempo of the The buzzards had her down. Chorus. pieces, again are distinctive of the pure strain of American folk music. Originating in the South, they Boss he had an old gray mare, have spread widely throughout the United States. Her name was Brindly Brown, Every tooth in that mare's head CRIPPLE CREEK Had sixteen inches 'round.
    [Show full text]
  • 10 Top Picks APRIL 2021
    10 Top Picks APRIL 2021 For the latest ratings and information, visit These are the most exceptional new cars on the road today. They all shine in CR’s tests and surveys, and each comes standard with key advanced safety features. BY JEFF S. BARTLETT ach year more way onto our list through outstanding Consumer Reports. “That means we than 250 models performance in more than 50 tests at care more about how your next car or compete for the CR’s Auto Test Center, as well as having SUV performs when it comes to safety, hearts, minds, solid marks for reliability and owner comfort, and fuel efficiency than how and driveways satisfaction in our member surveys. All quickly it can circle a race track.” of American car have also scored well in dynamic safety Each Top Pick has an Overall Score shoppers. At tests, such as our challenging accident that’s among the highest in its category. Consumer Reports, we rank the new maneuver, and, if tested, earned And it must come standard with models we buy and evaluate based passing grades in crash assessments forward collision warning (FCW) and on regimented performance tests and conducted by the federal government automatic emergency braking (AEB) survey results from our members. Here, and the insurance industry. with pedestrian detection—proven we highlight the best of the best in our “We put thousands of miles on features that prevent injuries and save annual Top Picks, standouts in popular each test car and evaluate them for lives by reducing collisions. price categories and types.
    [Show full text]
  • Top500 Final
    1. MICHAEL JACKSON Billie Jean 2. EAGLES Hotel California 3. BON JOVI Livin’ On A Prayer 4. ROLLING STONES Satisfaction 5. POLICE Every Breath You Take 6. ARETHA FRANKIN Respect 7. JOURNEY Don’t Stop Believin’ 8. BEATLES Hey Jude 9. GUESS WHO American Woman 10. QUEEN Bohemian Rhapsody 11. MARVIN GAYE I Heard It Through The Grapevine 12. JOAN JETT I Love Rock And Roll 13. BEE GEES Night Fever 14. BEACH BOYS Good Vibrations 15. BLONDIE Call Me 16. FOUR SEASONS December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) 17. BRYAN ADAMS Summer Of 69 18. SURVIVOR Eye Of The Tiger 19. LED ZEPPELIN Stairway To Heaven 20. ROY ORBISON Pretty Woman 21. OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN Physical 22. B.T.O. Takin’ Care Of Business 23. NEIL DIAMOND Sweet Caroline 24. DON McLEAN American Pie 25. TOM COCHRANE Life Is A Highway 26. BOSTON More Than A Feeling 27. MICHAEL JACKSON Rock With You 28. ROD STEWART Maggie May 29. VAN HALEN Jump 30. ELTON JOHN/ KIKI DEE Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 31. FOUR SEASONS Big Girls Don’t Cry 32. FLEETWOOD MAC Dreams 33. FIFTH DIMENSION Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In 34. HALL AND OATES Maneater 35. NEIL YOUNG Heart Of Gold 36. PRINCE When Doves Cry 37. EAGLES Lyin’ Eyes 38. ARCHIES Sugar, Sugar 39. THE KNACK My Sharona 40. BEE GEES Stayin’ Alive 41. BOB DYLAN Like A Rolling Stone 42. AMERICA Sister Golden Hair 43. ALANNAH MYLES Black Velvet 44. FRANKI VALLI Grease 45. PAT BENATAR Hit Me With Your Best Shot 46. EMOTIONS Best Of My Love 47.
    [Show full text]
  • FACING the MUSIC the Hidden Cost of Festivals
    INDUSTRY REPORT FACING THE MUSIC The Hidden Cost of Festivals Author: David Jinks MILT Head of Consumer Research email: [email protected] web: parcelhero.com/festivals THE FAMOUS PYRAMID STAGE AT GLASTONBURY. IN 2014 THE EVENT PULLED IN £37M BUT SAW PROFITS OF JUST £86,000: LESS THAN 50P A TICKET. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Can you make money from festivals, or do overwhelming logistical demands – plus the British weather – mean most festivals will cease festivities? 1. Coachella, the biggest festival in the world, sells 198,000 tickets and pulls in $84 million for the Californian event. The UK’s largest festival – Glastonbury – has a turnover of £37m but sees profits of just £86,000: less than 50p per ticket. 2. In the wet summer of 2012 57 UK music festivals were cancelled. It’s a tough business: famous events such as The Big Chill, Sonisphere, Oxegen and Cloud 9 have all fallen silent recently. This year Austin’s 3-day Levitation Festival, Manchester’s All Today’s Parties festival and the Forgotten Fields 2016 Festival have already joined their ranks. 3. This year 14 million UK residents plan to attend a festival, (3.5 million music festivals alone). Around 1,000 festivals are planned in the UK for 2016 and, with the average ticket price being over £200 for major events, it’s a £2.3bn industry! www.parcelhero.com Facing the Music: The Hidden Cost of Festivals 2/19 4. The logistics behind a big event are amazing. The five stages at Download weigh 278 tons and require 57 artics to transport them.
    [Show full text]
  • Sleep Hygiene Tips Getting Good Sleep Is Important in Maintaining Health
    Sleep Hygiene Tips Getting good sleep is important in maintaining health. There are several things that you can do to promote good sleep, and ultimately Get Better Sleep. What is sleep hygiene? Sleep hygiene is defined as behaviors that one can do to help promote good sleep using behavioral interventions. Sleep hygiene tips: Maintain a regular sleep routine Go to bed at the same time. Wake up at the same time. Ideally, your schedule will remain the same (+/- 20 minutes) every night of the week. Avoid naps if possible Naps decrease the ‘Sleep Debt’ that is so necessary for easy sleep onset. Each of us needs a certain amount of sleep per 24-hour period. We need that amount, and we don’t need more than that. When we take naps, it decreases the amount of sleep that we need the next night – which may cause sleep fragmentation and difficulty initiating sleep, and may lead to insomnia. Don’t stay in bed awake for more than 5-10 minutes. If you find your mind racing, or worrying about not being able to sleep during the middle of the night, get out of bed, and sit in a chair in the dark. Do your mind racing in the chair until you are sleepy, then return to bed. No TV or internet during these periods! That will just stimulate you more than desired. If this happens several times during the night, that is OK. Just maintain your regular wake time, and try to avoid naps. Don’t watch TV or read in bed.
    [Show full text]
  • Retro-80S-Hits.Pdf
    This document will assist you with the right choices of music for your retro event; it contains examples of songs used during an 80’s party. Song Artist Greece 2000 18 If I Could 1927 That's When I Think Of You 1927 I Ran A Flock Of Seagulls Wishing ( If I Had A Photograph Of You) A Flock Of Seagulls Take On Me A Ha Poison Arrow ABC The Look Of Love ABC When Smokey Sings ABC Who Made Who AC/DC You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC Stand & Deliver Adam & The? Ant Music Adam Ant Goody Two Shoes Adam Ant Classic Adrian Gurvitz Janie's Got A Gun Aerosmith Rag Doll Aerosmith Manhattan Skyline A-Ha Take On Me A-Ha Love Is Alannah Myles Poison Alice Cooper Love Resurrection Alison Moyet Don't Talk To Me About Love Altered Images Take It Easy Andy Taylor Japanese Boy Aneka Obession Animotion Election Day Arcadia Sugar Sugar Archies 0402 277 208 | [email protected] | www.djdiggler.com.au | 21 Higgs Ct, Wynnum West, Queensland, Australia 4178 Downhearted Australian Crawl Errol Australian Crawl Reckless Australian Crawl Shutdown Australian Crawl Things Don't Seem Australian Crawl Love Shack B52's Roam B52's Strobelight B52's Tarzan Boy Baltimora I Want You Back Bananarama Venus Bananarama Heaven Is A Place On Earth Belinda Carlisle Mad About You Belinda Carlisle Imagination Belouis Some Sex I'm A Berlin Take My Breath Away Berlin Key Largo Bertie Higgins In A Big Country Big Country Look Away Big Country Hungry Town Big Pig Lovely Day Bill Withers Dancing With Myself Billy Idol Flesh For Fantasy Billy Idol Hot In The City Billy Idol Rebel Yell Billy
    [Show full text]
  • Stagnant, March 31, 2008
    University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Current (2000s) Student Newspapers 3-31-2008 Stagnant, March 31, 2008 University of Missouri-St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/current2000s Recommended Citation University of Missouri-St. Louis, "Stagnant, March 31, 2008" (2008). Current (2000s). 211. https://irl.umsl.edu/current2000s/211 This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Newspapers at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Current (2000s) by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SINCE 1966 STUDENT RAG March 31, 2008 www.thecurrentonline.com VOLUME41, ISSUE 124'; MAD LIPS CONTEST Fill out your Stagnant Scandal oauses SAGA president to resign Mad Lips and win By PAULA ABDUL·JABAAR side adoringly throughout his entire Go to page 10 to fill out Make Me Sick Read speech. your Stagnant Mad Lips Editor-ill-Grief What is with that Paula Abdul­ "It's a private matter and I acted words and then place them Jabaar? Why does he like to dress in wrongly and I apologize sincerely in the Mad Lips story on women's clothing so much? Seriously, Cryin Goers, president of the and deeply and I'm just a bad person page 11. E-mail your results this is the thjrd year he has dressed in Sucky Ass Goers Association, has and I need to leave my post," Goers to [email protected] and women's clothes. It make, me sick. tendered his resignation after inves­ lamented. our favorite will be printed tigators exposed a scandal involving ing a hotel reservation for himself and "I wouldn't call you bad, Cry­ in next week's paper.
    [Show full text]
  • 01 Groff Part 02 9-17
    2 BIG BARRIERS TO BELIEVING Every time I tried to tell you, the words just came out wrong. So I’ll have to say I love you in a song. —Jim Croce y conversations with seeking friends can validate your own search. You may have been abused by institu- Mtional religion, as Melissa was—or found it boring. Or as Steve says,“It just seems wrong-headed, claiming to know answers via being the chosen people or via acceptance of Jesus, or whatever.” You may be a spiritual leader in a religious institu- tion, like Dana, and need a safe way to explore the edges of your own doubts. For others, it is an emotional and spiritual melt- down, as Michael Stipe sings in R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.” Things fall apart; you say things that shock yourself and it sparks a crisis of integrity. LOSING YOUR RELIGION Sometimes you do not plan to lose your religion. Someone loses it for you. A drunk driver, an abusive representative of God, or 9 10 WHAT WOULD I BELIEVE IF I DIDN’T BELIEVE ANYTHING? You might think you have no a betraying lover suddenly religion to lose—that is, turns whatever God you be- anything that consumes your lieved in upside down. ultimate passion—until you lose Sometimes it just hap- it and feel the emptiness. pens, in the way a partly opened soda loses its fizz overnight. Actually, you may have lost your religion but not your faith, though others think you have.You may be experiencing a dark night of the soul— barely finding hints of the Presence, like stars on a foggy night—which I explore in Chapter Eighteen, on emptiness.
    [Show full text]
  • By David Rothfuss Fireworks and Sex! Is a New
    ABSTRACT FIREWORKS AND SEX! by David Rothfuss Fireworks and Sex! is a new religion I’m launching so I can get rich without paying taxes. The religious document that follows, which you’re probably not even allowed to read on account of copyright restrictions, is pretty standard as religious documents go, providing you, the religious consumer, with 205 pages of morally ambiguous poems, fables and doodles to base your life upon. It is by far the most American religion out there, and a sure-fire path to a shinier existence, with the average follower experiencing 74% more happiness, 93% more freedom, and 87% more American Dream than those in other religions. If you were allowed to read it, which you’re not, it would provide you with an inside track to God and eternal salvation. FIREWORKS AND SEX A Field Study Guide to America’s Shiniest Religion A Thesis Submitted to the faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of the Arts Creative Writing/Poetry Department of English by David Alexander Rothfuss Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2011 Keith Tuma, advisor cris cheek, reader David Schloss, reader . © David Rothfuss 2011 Table of Contents: Book 1: Concerning this Book, its characters and the partial revelation of truths……………………………………………………………….………...p.1 Book 2: Concerning your new religion and how lost you would be without it…p. 52 A Brief Interlude: Poems upon which you shall base your life…………..p. 88 Book 3: Big Time: in which Our now famous characters hash out their differences with God and mortality………………………………………………………p.
    [Show full text]